Birding guide author and illustrator David Allen Sibley answers that question in his latest book What It’s Like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing—What Birds Are Doing, and Why.
Sibley will speak about the book at two free lectures on Friday, March 11, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. for the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge (DDWS) at the Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ Fellowship Hall, 2050 Periwinkle Way.
For birders and nonbirders alike, Sibley’s special, large-format volume excites and inspires by providing a new and deeper understanding of what common, mostly backyard birds are doing and why.
Sibley’s exacting artwork and wide-ranging expertise bring observed behaviors vividly to life. His book covers more than 200 species and includes more than 330 new illustrations. While its focus is on familiar backyard birds—blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees—it also examines species that can be fairly easily observed, such as the seashore-dwelling Atlantic puffin.
Author and illustrator of the series of successful nature guides that bear his name, including the New York Times bestseller The Sibley Guide to Birds, Sibley has contributed art and articles to Smithsonian, Science, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Birding, BirdWatchng, and North American Birds; and wrote an illustrated syndicated column for The New York Times. He is the recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Birding Association and the Linnaean Society of New York’s Eisenmann Medal.